Felicity Ward Says Ricky Gervais “Approved” Of Her ‘Office Australia’ Character Hannah Howard

This new Brent is okay. Australian actress Felicity Ward has revealed Ricky Gervais “approved” of her interpretation of his iconic awful boss character in The Office.

Actor and comedian Ward is playing Hannah Howard in The Office Australia, which launches on Prime Video outside of the U.S. on October 18. Though the show has been remade in numerous countries, with the famous David Brent character reinterpreted many time, this marks the first time the gender has been changed.

Ward was appearing at the Prime Video Trailblazers event celebrating women in film and TV here in London today. “Ricky Gervais has approved of a female lead — he’s very excited about a female lead,” she half-joked to an audience today, adding: “Just in case anyone is angry.”

Upon announcement of the show, Brent had said in a statement: “Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”

Another clip of The Office Australia, which is from BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand and Bunya Entertainment, was played to the audience at the Prime Video event today, with Howard joking that British people were “very chill” about new interpretations of Brent.

Appearing on a panel alongside The Devil’s Hour star Jessica Raine and director Louise Hooper, Ward ssaid she had done “zero preparation” for the role and that the character was “every annoying part of my peronality” with the “charm edited out.”